The ceremony took place at Conwy council’s Bodlondeb headquarters as Cllr Knightly was too ill to travel to London.

David Jones, the MP for Clwyd West who knew Cllr Knightly for “very many years”, said he had borne his illness with “huge bravery”.

Mr Jones said: “William Knightly was a close personal friend of mine and a huge support to me personally and the Conservatives in Clwyd West, where he acted as chairman for four years at a challenging time.

“He was an excellent leader of the Conservative group at Conwy County Borough Council and a straight-talking, plain-speaking and good-natured man.

“He had many friends and colleagues from across the political spectrum.

“He bore his illness with huge bravery, and I was pleased that he was honoured with an MBE shortly before his death.

“He was a very great man and a kind man. He will leave a huge gap in the political and public life of North Wales.”

Cheryl Carlisle replaced Cllr Knightly as Conservative group leader on Conwy council when he stood down earlier this year.

She said: “He was a truly special person and was much loved by all his colleagues at Conwy.

“His death is a massive loss to Conwy council, his colleagues in the Conservative group and his family.

“I knew him for eight years on the council and he was a very forthright and very fair man.

“His death is a huge loss to us all and our thoughts are with his family.”

Wrexham councillor Ian Roberts was chairman of the North Wales Police Authority when Cllr Knightly was a member.

He said: “He was a man that gave a lot to his area and to the police authority. It’s a very sad day for all of us in North Wales.

“He served the area in different capacities for a long time, and was a man respected by a lot of people.

“He was straight-talking and wasn’t afraid of putting his point across.”

Among the achievements described during Cllr Knightly’s MBE ceremony in July were acting as the head of Knightly’s European Leisure Ltd, supporting the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain, and helping the victims of the Towyn floods of 1990.

He showed his generosity when he threw open the doors of his funfair to the children of Towyn and Kinmel Bay to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

The monarch’s emissary told the invited guests at Bodlondeb last month that he had been sent by Her Majesty herself to administer the honour.

Speaking at the ceremony, Cllr Dilwyn Roberts said: “You have been a credit to your community, to the council and to politicians for years and years.

“You bring a smile to people’s faces. If you want to tell me about something you did not agree with, you would tell me with a smile on your face.”

Addressing the invited guests at the ceremony, Cllr Knightly’s daughter Laura had said: “It was such a surprise for him when he heard he was going to be given an MBE. That speaks volumes for how he works. Not for any expectation of getting something but just to try to make a change and help the community.”

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The Editor

Mark Thoma

Liverpool-born Mark joined the Daily Post in January 2014 after seven years as editor of its Merseyside sister title the Liverpool Post. He started out as a weekly news reporter on Wirral Newspapers, and spent seven years at the Daily Post and Liverpool Echo. He was The Press Association's regional correspondent for North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire from 1983 to 1997, before returning to the ECHO as deputy news editor. He has won a number of journalism awards, including the UK Press Gazzette Regional Reporter of the Year award, and in 1993 wrote a book on the James Bulger murder.